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Fainted Grace
Old world music wafted through the air of the room from an ancient record player, well worn but carefully maintained inlaid wood work coating its surfaces, the floor matched by faded but crisp art works that sat in the four corners of the office, as two figures sat silently below a dark tapestry of stone work carved into the roof to give the illusion of an open sky above. The fore of the two sipped from a small glass, held between three fingers as if they were studying it rather than drinking the glistening copper liquid within, before lightly placing it down on a small rest next to them as they settled back into the long worn material before their host. The latter sat with their back to their guest in a long backed ancient leather chair, their attention held by their own thoughts as they faced the great glass windows positioned before them, an arching desk separating the two like a yawning cavum made from long extinct wood that told the very history of its passing to the passing eye. In terms of appearance you would think the two twins if such chances of biological production were still common place, but to the trained eye they couldn’t be further apart from one another. The fore was a man made from what could be best said to be a lithe sinew of muscle, wrapped in the form of what would look nondescript to a passer by but whose eyes were of a hawk, constantly evaluating and analysing. The latter was his twin if viewed in a shadow, pale skin wrapped to a skeletal form so sharp that one could say he was truly a knife given biological form amongst what remained of man kind. What they both shared though was far far more important than any biological chance or bond of blood, as they both knew from a simple evaluation of one another. Behind their outward appearance was a mind like no other amongst their betters or lowers and the simple equivalence between the pair placed them in a footing where their lack of tolerance for anyone else was equalled only by their mutual respect for an intellect on their own scale, or at least as they saw it. Each was the product of generations of focussing on one desire and one outcome amongst their kind, and the final means to what they saw as the only viable outcome amongst the ever shifting political landscape that made up the hierarchy of the company in their current time. Neither spoke as the silence that spanned between them settled like a blanketing fog, a storm of calm amidst an ever changing world that the two were solely fitted to inhabit and thrive. A creak emanated from the door into the office room as a young man entered, pushing the door too behind him as he crossed to the desk, laying a leather bound folder down on the edge before bowing and turning on the ball of his heel and leaving as quietly as he had entered, the fore of the two men not even raising an eyebrow to his presence as the latter spun round in his chair, his eyes flicking to the folder as he made the first movement in over an hour. “And so our reason for being here finally arrives” the latter spoke softly with a slight accent caused by a slim scar at the corner of his mouth, leaning forward he picked the folder up lightly and flipped it open as he leant back in his chair; scanning through the pages in quiet contemplation for a few minutes before closing it and placing it down on the desk before him. The fore took a sip from his drink as he waited, one hand resting on the air of the chair whilst the other lightly placed his drink down once more as he raised an eyebrow ever so slightly in wait of an explanation from the latter. “The board have made their decisions and accordingly they have been handed down chairmen by chairmen, director by director through the entire of the company and into every department ” the latter looked directly at the fore with smile beginning to spread across their face. “As such each department has turned their attention as to how best to take advantage of the new directive to further themselves over their rivals” The fore spoke with a slow smile of their own as the latter closed their eyes for a moment “And in turn we see the spread of a new ideal within which we can steer our focus with little need to alter our course” the latter breathed as if scenting a pleasant breeze. “And in turn we shall see our numbers grow as those come to see our plans as their own without the need to play our hand or even reveal our presence from the start” the fore spoke with clarity as the fore tilted their head in a barely perceptible nod of agreement. The fore breathed out slowly as their own grin spread to the corners of their mouth as they raised their drink in solemn salute, the latter bowing every so slightly in mock imitation of an conductor taking the applause of the crowd. “It would seem the efforts of the reclamation have served a secondary purpose that plays into our own hands” the fore spoke quietly; their voice barely a whisper in the silent room, “Indeed it would” the latter agreed as they settled back into their chair “The distraction has served as an excellent opportunity to position ourselves amongst those that would better see our desires placed firmly forward whilst always believing that their new aim is their own furthering when it is in fact the placement of our plans ahead of theirs that they are in fact pursuing ”. The fore closed his eyes as he nodded at the latter’s words, their brow furrowing as they thought in contemplation, “We should still maintain our reserve should our primary aim fail in its inception to ensure that we are well placed to carry on this work in future years however” they looked at the latter who in turn seemed pensive for a moment before nodding as they stood up and crossed to the edge of their desk, the folder briskly picked up and flipped open to a page part way through before turning it around and passing it to the fore as they leant forward to receive the page. “Are you sure? They are not the most desirable of element we have to play” he looked at the other with as the latter turned with a smile, “Exactly why they are so perfect for such an action that we can waste their expediency upon” he replied... Military Campaign Progress The will to carry on is often kindled in its infancy during the first steps taken by a force with no fore knowledge of what is yet to come, the fires of determination stoked by each following step into the unknown adding to the previous until a fire breaks free that drives the courage and ambition of men to levels that those around them before would call madness but to those far away see the starts of heroes in their midst. These few warriors can turn the tide of wars and campaigns on their head, leading to crushing victories and swift advances that before would have seen a force scattered far and wide before the very forces they know march clean through, driven further and further on as the blaze of determination leads these men and women ever forward in a growing tide of conviction that infects every soldier draw up in its wake. This sense of right against wrong can give purpose to even the most downtrodden member of a culture, gifting them a drive to see something through no matter how forlorn it may seem to others, whilst those that championed the cause can find themselves whipped up into a frenzy of rhetoric that gives birth to an ever growing wave of righteousness that pushes them further and further ahead on the shoulders of those that cry their names as a rallying call to those in need of a hero to their cause. For the company this cause is bred into the heart and soul of every single member from the moment of their births to the moment of their deaths, no matter the difference of station or politic or even birth, the same core belief reigns supreme thought them all, that the ruins inhabited by all the savages, traitors, mutants and everything else that the shadows of the past can produce truly belong to the men and women of the company. Accordingly the following weeks after the first acts of what some amongst the company and the army itself see as steps in the right direction, the army finds itself once more on the move with little time for much celebration amongst the armies own departments and sectors. For other cultures this might seem odd to be devoid of any form of illation at the success of their warriors and kindred, but for the company a job executed well is often executed quietly with a simple note amongst the hierarchy concluding the business and moving onto to the next in their long list of protocols and form that make up the ever evolving plan of reclamation. As such as the army moves out from their temporary habitations zones and office directories the slow but steadily growing trail of reclamation personnel move into the territory beginning to catalogue, correlate and collect what valuable technology they can find alongside assigning areas to competing departments locked in bidding wars for new work zones and expansion plans as the space becomes available to those moving into the more permanently planned constructs within the land available. For the army however these sights and sounds soon become an ever distant sound to them as they push onwards and north wards at the behest of the board, following closely behind the leading surveyors of the reclamation department as the security personnel form a column of armed and armoured check points at each way point, the army moving in a measured but solid advance towards their next objective. The directors and managing assistants of the army keep a quiet watch on the force as they pass through the long tunnels and over the half collapsed bridges that span the road ways of the ruins, each day sees a new grumble crop up but slip away just as quickly as the lower down leaders of sectors refocus their members on various tasks at hand, potential arguments slipping away into the ether as the aggrieved find themselves busily working away on their roles or finding those that raised the problem being rotated away before the chance for the grumbles to raise themselves again. These constant small problems come to a head for the directors of the army over the course of one evening where the primary instigator is laid bare and for once it is a simple fact that no politicking can avoid, the fact that the human body requires supply to continue functioning and the lack of such results in the degradation of such is an unavoidable consequence of the lack of supply in the first place. Debate rages amongst the directors until the early morning of the following day where the case is put to one side as the army enters into the light of a new territory proper, the first reports and observations flooding back in a tidal wave of information, remarks, first contact points and reference requests. The end of the first month brings with it the first true glimpses of where the reclamators and their associated members have found their steps amongst their predecessors long silent ruins, only the scattered back light from a dozen dirty fires filling the surrounding darkness with sparks from fractured light panels and severed cables still spiralling with power through their metallic veins. From what surveyors have pushed further ahead on their own trails of discovery and chasing old maps of the region, the reports they have sent back have pointed to the region being an civilian medical region mentioned in a few first responders radio transcripts still held by the company that was located in this section of the colony before the fall. This information is rapidly sent back to the board as the army spreads out into the first areas they can navigate their way into utilising what service tunnels and under-ways they can access to, and in a few cases making their way through buildings via the use of half collapsed aerial walk ways that used to span the gap over roads and paths below. The next couple of weeks sees further analysis by the surveyors as the army makes its way through the territory with little resistance from anything of note as they push forward in a tide of tight perimeters and carefully measured expenditure of what resources they have. By the middle of the second month the army draws itself in around the basis of what information is pointing to being the central hospital complex of the territory, the directors issuing mandates to secure the local area and turn the surrounding buildings into their base of operation within the area. A couple of small bands of scavengers attempt to make their own claim in one instance but a quick application of ‘negotiation’ by the security department sees one rapidly departing whilst the other finds themselves seized, stripped of anything of note and ejected roughly from the territory at gun point. This pattern of secure, search and move on is repeated over the course of the next week until the directors are satisfied that their image of the surrounding area is happily full with little to no blind points as far as they were concerned with their new accusation. What these reports provide is a clear indication of the exact nature of the territory as the medical nature is confirmed fully as well as the surrounding connection points back south, south and East as well as north heading towards the northern limits of the ruins themselves according to the ancient maps in position of the surveyors. When called to a meeting the surveyors also provide an approximation of the size of the territory, classifying it as another Teritus class area amongst the companies possessions, some of the Directors grumble at the loss of size compared to their previous reclamation, however the others point to the promise of a medical area that can provide for the employees across all departments, as well as providing a potential future investment that the board could well utilise if the previous accusation were to be put to its most and best potential in the coming months and years. The second month draws to a close and the next few weeks pass quietly for the army as the force spreads itself out over the territory, a slow but steady supply of crated and un-ruined medical supplies pulled from unspoiled stores and vaults feed back to the armies temporary command centre with batches being pulled together and every few days dispatched back south to the contracted and assigned employees in the new business centres being opened as to provide some self reliance to those personnel placed there whilst critically important or required supplies and sent back to the commercia and then the spire for filing and dispersion amongst the departments proper for disassembly or use by the biologically inclined. By the close of the third week a small mountain of basic but highly useful supplies left over from everything else they could find having been sent south has accumulated within the confines of the conference; as the medical complex has been dubbed by the reclamators, some of the managing assistants of the combined medical directive of the army petition the managing directors and the board for the right to claim the supplies for the army itself, whilst at the same time a confederation of biologists and expansionist departments from within the spire launch their own petition to sell on the supplies for other equipment and financial gain that could then be turned to other uses. As the final week passes by the army received one piece of information that changes the mood of the entire force in the course of one night however as the usual air of formality disappears behind a sheen a worry and minor fear, the south eastern route discovered some weeks before hand passes in sight of one of the most dangerous places of the ruins, the Bastion of the Soldiers of Hive-sec…. Summary: The Reclamators of the company have secured a further territory within the ruins for the various departments and personnel there within. A Teritus grade medical territory home to a series of civilian hospitals and civil response vaults filled with sealed crates and casks of vaccines, the territory is a gift and a choice at the same time for the company as to where to focus them, however the biggest fear now for most within the army is the presence of Bastion staring at their backs as they pass to and froe, an ever looming shadow they can’t help but feel under from unseen eyes… A Hand that gives and a hand that takes: With the conclusion of another period of expansion into the former colonial assets of the pre-fall the company has begun to put what resources flow into to use amongst the various departments, with bidding lots being opened across the home zones of various sizes from individual lots all the way up to managers and departmental alliances clashing over pieces for the sake of influence and presence than any monetary gain they might otherwise have. In some cases a rapid boom to bust cycle occurs with bidders combining to crash others out in the simple hope of dropping their influence amongst others at the next round of bids and eventual elevation votes amongst the management. With this all going on further back ground meetings are held just out of sight but never out of ear of just the right amount of people, small changes of alliances occurring in the ever shifting landscape of the company leading to twists and turns where old paths closed and new ones open amongst the connections of individuals that never existed the day before. Within this however a series of small queries pop up for just a moment to be noticed before settling down once more, the first of these being a little seen meeting between two of the more obscure departments, what this could possibly mean most are unsure. The second arises from the army, with a path leading within sight of the Bastion of hive-sec some of the more military minded amongst the various departments are concerned what any kind of foray with the sight of the soldier breeds bounders could mean, some are concerned that any action so close could rouse the thousands of troops from the bastion itself to fall down upon them. These concerns fall into a series of debates that reach little in the way of conclusion but raise the question of if, not when, Hive-secs soldiers will march from the Bastion to make war on the next to draw their ire. Summary: 1) Election of the Operational Executive of the Reclamators is to be held this event, the results of which are to be conducted to the board by no later than Sunday morning at 11:00am (Only Suits may stand for this position) 2) Election of the Supply Director of the Reclamators is to be held this event, the results of which are to be conducted by no later than Sunday morning at 10:00am (Only Lab-coats my stand for this position) 3) With the armies continued reclamations from amongst the ruins it was only a short time before they encountered some force of the other cultures, the fact that it is potentially the largest body of Hive-sec forces is troubling. The Board is interested in the situation and as such is sending a representative to discuss the matter with company members present. Back to Downtimes